Why I Want Tiger Woods to Lose the FedEx Cup

Alright, PGA Tour, you've got me now.  I'm interested in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.  I want to know who wins this thing.

This past weekend at the Deutsche Bank Championship presented the perfect storm of conditions to compel me to care about East Lake in three weeks. 

Like I have said, the FedEx Cup has always had compelling tournaments.  There has nay been a stinker in ten tries with these tournaments.  Great champions, or unexpected results, or even the satisfyingly expected have been the stories in two and a half runs.  Until now, though, the format has not left the fate of the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bounty in limbo.

Heath Slocum's victory at Liberty National was all well and good, but did nothing to add sizzle to the Playoffs as a concept.  All it did was convince me that this third crack at it would, too, be a failure.  But how Stricker managed to birdie each of the final two holes to earn yet another Playoff win elevated my opinion of this rendition of the FedEx Cup above the flaws I find with the logistics.

That reason is why I now I have a rooting interest and a villain for the Tour Championship.  My hero is Steve Stricker.  My villain is Tiger Woods.

Tiger always wins - well, at least until YE Yang and Heath Slocum came along like out of the movie "Spawn of Ed Fiori."  He dominates the Tour in a way that we will likely not see again for another generation.  The guy has five wins this year and is likely on his way to another Player of the Year title.  Tiger is the hero.  He is the guy that dominates in World of Warcraft (a la the South Park episode), massacring all that stand in his way to the Sword of 1000 Truths.

In recent months, though, there has been a chink in his armor.  The size of the gash and the problem varies.  It can be his driving - his career nemesis.  Now, though, there has been evidence that new problems have surfaced.  Ranging from his short iron ballstriking to putting inside of 20 feet - his career hallmark - Woods seems more human than ever. 
After his club flinging display that was stealthly caught on mobile video camera, I am convinced that Woods' temperament is a detriment to the sport.  Tommy Bolt used to routinely fling clubs in premeditated displays of emotion.  What Woods did was just childish.  Slamming a club down like that - with that kind of apparent rage and frustration - is just plain unacceptable.  I can take the cussing.  I can take the occasional thud of the stick into the ground.  To throw a club in a stunt that resembles something from Jackass, though, is too much. 

I hope Tim Finchem levies a fine on Tiger Woods for that display.  He may be able to get away with embarrassing a Tour official and throwing a referee under the bus, but he should not get away with littering at TPC Boston.

With the King in trouble and showing signs of struggle, there needs to be a William Wallace to challenge for the freedom of the Tourdom.

That guy is Steve Stricker.  Though labeling him Mr. September strikes me as very cliche, Stricker seems to perform awfully well during this time of the year and in this format.  With his second win in the format, Stricker now joins Woods, Singh, and Villegas as the guys to win multiple Playoff events.  Even when he doesn't win, late summer and early fall seems to have become Stricker's time for great play.  His name may not be synonymous with the FedEx Cup playoffs, but that is because no one really thinks of the concept much.  Stricker may be able to change that.

Stricker leads the FedEx Cup heading into Cog Hill & the BMW Championship this week.  He is assured a spot in the top five in the points.  Woods likely is as well, barring some kind of unforeseen circumstance.  That means that these two will be the odds on favorites to win the FedEx Cup.  For the first time, East Lake will not only mean something to the outcome of the Playoff series, but it will also feature an intriguing matchup.

Steve Stricker has been living in the shadow of his multi-year comeback.  He is best recognized as being golf's lone two-time defending Comeback Player of the Year.  Now, he has an opportunity to slay the king if he can keep it together at the Tour Championship.

By all measure, Tiger Woods is having a great season.  Five wins and a ton of money will create that perception.  Still, Woods knows there is something missing from the '09 war chest.  There is no major.  He let modest chances slip away in the first two majors, played terribly in the third, and was bested for the first time with the 54 hole lead in the other.  For the year, Woods would likely tell you he was negative two for four this year.  The FedEx Cup is Woods' shot to gain some measure of redemption for the lost opportunities in the most important championships and project that he is still on top of golf's highest mountain - alone.  While the public and media may put the kabbash on the Playoffs' importance, Woods knows this matters to him in some small measure.

Seemingly, it matters to Stricker also.  The Wisconsin native is not exactly in line to win a major anytime soon.  Picking away at high finishes and the win here and there have been how Stricker succeeds.  To win the FedEx Cup, though, would be his biggest career achievement.  And he would likely do it in a showdown against a man who is highly motivated as well. 

For Woods, this would just be another feather in a very full head dress - but a plume that he psychologically needs.  For Stricker, it would be his biggest feather.

A sporting concept only matters when there are at least two competitors that care about it, and the final showdown is meaningful and compelling.  Perhaps, then, the FedEx Cup will get what it desperately needs if both Stricker and Woods can deliver at East Lake in their roles as hero and villain.